I am not one for patience in gaming. I like being told what to do and how to do it. I like seeing results of some kind and fun in my experimentation with a new world, new game mechanics, and more. However, I can love puzzle games that give me the tools and a world that is enjoyable to explore and rewards learning and effort in trying to learn new mechanics. The Long Gate is easily one of the most complex puzzle games I’ve tried in a long time and while it may have some great and interesting results at times and rewards patience, the journey to learn how to solve the puzzles is at best a bland slog.
Let’s talk about the world the players are put in. Clearly, this is a game made by an indie developer that has limited resources. That can be charming and lead to creative aesthetics. It is a bold choice for The Long Gate to create such an elaborate and large-scale environment with a mystery. Unfortunately, the graphics, visual design, and world, in general, are more distracting and difficult to understand than beautiful, captivating and/or helpful. I think a more simplistic approach to visual design that focused on the puzzle mechanics could have helped the game feel far more polished. I appreciate the risk and effort in making something grander out of a puzzle game, but it didn’t work in the gameplay’s favor.
As for the actual gameplay and puzzle system, the game is basically a series of increasingly difficult structures that involve levels of circuitry, moving electricity through various systems, turning on lights, opening doors, and activating elevators. In theory, a large-scale, walkable circuit board can be a lot of fun. But when your character walks slowly, the landscape is difficult to read and the puzzles’ difficulty escalates far too quickly and the concepts of the puzzles weren’t well enough taught or telegraphed to the players the interesting puzzle parts can get lost in the roughness of the game. While this may be relatively subjective, the jump from simple puzzles with only a few components to highly complex and lengthy puzzles was sudden and surprising.
The Long Gate is one of patience and willingness to experiment a lot. The learning curve is high and the game’s polish is low. It may be worth it for those who desire a long process and rough indie style, but I could see it becoming frustrating and boring for most other players. The core gameplay is fine and logical, but that can’t save something that is unnecessarily bland and tough.
